‘New Girl’ Finale Recap 5/8/12 “See Ya”

Has it really been a full season already? Well, you know what they say– time flies when you’re having fun. Especially if you’ve been on the entire zany, adventure-filled ride that has been the first season of “New Girl.” On tonight’s season finale, the gang all head out to the desert, and Nick is faced with the ultimate decision: to move out, or not to move out?

At the beginning of tonight’s episode, Nick is looking very optimistic about his move to a new place with Caroline, despite the fact that his friends feel otherwise. However, since Nick is packing up his stuff and is ready to go for good, the other roommates have no choice but to find a replacement. Their most promising prospect is Neil; he’s an unemployed divorcee`, and he’s about fifty years old. Jess tries to scare him off, but Winston and Schmidt decide that he’s a keeper.

Over at a photo shoot, Schmidt decides to visit his gal, Cece, who is definitely hard a work; her task at hand is to straddle a giant missile, half-naked, while posing with a male model. Clearly, Schmidt is having jealousy issues (“what war is this??”), which will play out later in the episode.

While saying goodbye to all of his friends, Nick is still unusually cheerful. In the moving van with Schmidt and Winston, all he can talk about is his excitement over paint color choices. However, he throws a major curveball when he drives right past his new building and embarks on a full on freak-out, driving straight out to the desert. He “unexpectedly” throws his car keys right into the canyon. And, when Jess and Cece drive out to meet them, Jess does exactly the same thing. They are stranded.

With just a truck full of Nick’s stuff and without anywhere to go, they all decide to camp out and have some fun. Jess throws on a mix tape that Nick made when he was fourteen, which includes such nineties classics as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “How Bizarre.” A dance party between Jess and Nick ensues. As Cece watches, Schmidt notices her phone going off, which has a new– and wholly inappropriate– text from “Gino.” He explains his love for Cece to Jess through a White Fang metaphor; in other words, he thinks it may be time to let her go.